


Don't Fence Me In

by withdiamonds



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-02-18
Updated: 2008-02-18
Packaged: 2017-10-07 06:45:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/62477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withdiamonds/pseuds/withdiamonds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean hunt a chupacabra in the Grand Canyon.  A pic_for1000 story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Fence Me In

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the picfor 1000 challenge, 2008

Don't Fence Me In

*****

"A chupracabra, Sam? Really?" Dean's wearing his most skeptical smirk, one eyebrow up around his hairline. Sam ignores it, and Dean takes an enormous bite of his cheeseburger, juice running down his chin.

Sam shrugs. "Well, it's either that or a manticore." His fingers tap at his laptop and he frowns at the screen.

"There's a difference?" Dean asks, like really doesn't know. He grabs a handful of napkins out of the dispenser and swipes them across his mouth.

Sam nods. "Yeah, Dean, there's a difference." He turns the computer around to show Dean the pictures he's found. He points to one with the body of a lion, the face of a man, and a whole lot of teeth. "That's a manticore." He clicks on another link. "That's a chubracabra. Or one version of it, anyway," he adds, blinking doubtfully at a creature that looks like a cross between a hyena and a stegosaurus.

"Dude, it's like that video game," Dean says, studying the images. He slants a grin at Sam. "Is that the kind of research you've been doing, Sammy? Playing games?"

"Hardly," Sam says with dignity, although his ears feel a little warm and he doesn't meet Dean's eyes. "Anyway, yeah, I really think it's a chubracabra that's been killing those tourists." Sam finishes his iced tea and closes his laptop.

"Well," Dean says cheerfully as he shoves the last of his onion rings in his mouth. "Whatever it is, we need to get down to the bottom of the Canyon." He shakes his head regretfully and tosses the wadded up napkins onto the table. "And I don't think my baby can get us down there. We're gonna have to find an alternate mode of transportation."

*****

Sam stares at Dean as if he's lost what little sense Sam's been giving him credit for all his life.

"Dean, I can't ride one of those - those animals!" Sam flaps his arms at the donkeys standing placidly in front of them, tails swishing gently in the early morning heat. "My knees'll drag on the ground." He sounds indignant, and so much like the old Sammy that Dean doesn't bother hiding his grin.

The other tourists in their little group are milling around, some of them already up on their donkeys. One or two of them are watching curiously as Sam hisses in outrage at Dean.

Dean ignores them and watches with amusement as his brother squints at the creatures before him with something akin to horror. "I don't think they're donkeys, Dean," Sam says doubtfully. "I think they're mules. Donkeys have a different kind of-"

"Thank you, Dr. Doolittle," Dean interrupts. "Can we get going now?" He gestures at the donkeys. "Mount up. Or, er, whatever."

It takes them what feels like five days to get down to Phantom Ranch, although it's probably more like five hours. Dean's ass hurts after the first hour, and he knows, just by the way Sam's clenching his jaw and hunching his shoulders that it didn't take his ass even that long. Donkeys just aren't Sam-sized animals.

Dean's happy to dismount when they finally arrive, and as he watches Sam drag himself off the donkey with a glare in Dean's direction that promises retribution too terrible to imagine, he says to their tour guide, "So, when do we eat?"

*****

Sam is sure the scenery is gorgeous. Breathtaking, even. But the agony of balancing on a beast several sizes too small for him is distracting. Leave it to Dean to finally get them to the Grand Canyon and then make it totally impossible for Sam to appreciate it.

They stop for lunch at someplace called Indian Gardens, which is packed with way more tourists than Sam would have imagined.

"Who knew the Grand Canyon was such a popular place, huh, Sam?" Dean says around a mouthful of baked beans.

Sam shifts on the hard wooden bench. "Yeah."

"Come on, Sammy. Lighten up. We're at the Grand Canyon, dude." Dean's eyes are bright and happy and Sam can't help smiling back at him just a little.

That night after everyone's asleep, they sneak quietly out of their cabin to do a bit of investigating. There've been several deaths in the area in the past few years, and Sam had recognized a pattern even if none of the locals did. The way the bodies were mutilated, he's sure it's a chupracabra.

But it turns out to be the ghost of an old gold prospector, disgruntled and looking to avenge the horse thief who bushwhacked him for a bag of gold dust back in the mid-1800s. Dean shakes his head and laughs at how far off the mark Sam's theory was.

An angry spirit is much easier to handle than a chupracabra, and thankfully, a lot less messy. A simple salt and burn and they're back in their cabin before sunup.

*****

"I call top bunk," Dean says, as he strips his shirt off. His boots and pants follow as he heads for the shower.

"Dude, there's no time to sleep. We have to get back on those damn mules in a couple of hours," Sam grumbles. His clothes are already off and he follows Dean into the bathroom.

"Sammy?"

Sam's hand is on the small of Dean's back, and he gives him a gentle shove. "Come on, I need a shower. You, too."

"Absolutely," Dean smirks as he turns on the water. "I'm right there with you, dude."

Sam's not about to let Dean fuck him after sitting on a mule all day, but Dean stops bitching about that right around the time Sam sinks to his knees and looks up at him, blinking the shower spray out of his eyes. He blows Dean to within an inch of his life and then gets to his feet and grins happily at him. He pushes Dean up against the wall of the rustic wooden shower and kisses him.

"Watch out you don't get splinters in your ass, dude."


End file.
